Synopsis

Plot

The episode begins with Tobias, Alan, Jamie, Banana Joe, and Tina playing soccer at school while Bobert sits on a nearby bench. After a few kicks back and forth, the ball hits him, so Tobias asks him to kick it back. Bobert overdoes it and kicks it all the way to the sun, prompting the kids to insult him and leave. Bobert hangs his head and sadly walks away.

Meanwhile, Gumball and Darwin are playing roughly with dolls. While they are playing, they notice Bobert looking sad. They ask him why he is sad, and he expresses his desire to be a real boy. Gumball tries to help, and he starts by doing silly demonstrations of emotions with Darwin, walking with an exaggerated "cool" walk, and talking like a normal person. Because Bobert is unable to make his voice more human-like, he copies Gumball's voice exactly, with his permission. He begins making fun of Gumball, which makes him laugh. Realizing that this means he has feelings, he hugs Gumball and Darwin for a very long time.

That night, Bobert is in his bathroom talking to himself in the mirror. He still is not satisfied, because although he is a real boy in the inside, he still does not look like a real boy on the outside. It is then that he decides to copy Gumball's identity. Before we see his transformation, his mother calls him for "dinner simulation".

While going to his locker the next morning, Gumball overhears some girls talking about how dreamy he is. Feeling smug, he walks over to his locker, only to discover the combination has changed. He brings his backup - a bobby-pin that, instead of picking the lock as you would expect, pokes his behind to make him smash into the locker and smash it open, but to his surprise, the locker is completely empty.

At lunch, he tries to eat a burger, but Rocky takes it away from him, claiming that he already got one. He cleans the burger with a cleaning spray and gives it to Carmen, who smiles and runs off, unaware that it has been inside Gumball's mouth. Gumball insists that he did not get one yet, but before he can finish, he sees Penny flirting with someone. Gumball moves in to try to eavesdrop on their conversation and notices that it is Bobert, who has evidently painted the front of his body to look like him. Right after Penny kisses Bobert on the cheek and leaves, Gumball rushes up to him, demanding to know why Bobert is copying him. After a short argument, Gumball asserts the famous phrase, "There's only room in this town for one Gumball!" and challenges Bobert to see how long people will believe that he is Gumball.

Exhausted and annoyed with Bobert copying him, Gumball walks home. He is shocked to find both the front and backyard doors locked. He looks into the backyard window to see his family and Bobert sitting at the dinner table. Nicole is pleasantly surprised with Gumball's perfect grades. They move in for a family hug as Gumball yells "No!". Bobert pulls down the blinds to tune out Gumball's voice and knocking, as well as hide him from their sight.

Gumball, having no way to get into the house and convince his parents he is the real Gumball, curls up in the yard. Feeling cold and hungry, he rips up a bunch of leaves to use as a makeshift blanket. He was finally semi-comfortable, but at that moment, the sprinklers turn on, causing him to sadly sob.

The next day, Darwin and Bobert are playing Dodj or Daar out in the yard. As Darwin picks up a card, Gumball tackles Bobert, demanding that he stop impersonating him. He commands Darwin to hit the robot, but Darwin still believes Bobert is the real Gumball, causing him to hit Gumball. Gumball, reaching his breaking point, once again yells at Bobert to stop. Bobert seemingly agrees, but requests to say a few last words.

Unfortunately for them, Bobert has no intention of surrendering, and instead activates his defense protocol. He begins to shoot lasers at Gumball and Darwin, causing them to panic and hide behind the shed to catch their breath and formulate a plan.

Meanwhile, Richard is playing a video game inside and Nicole asks him to check on the boys. Through the window, you can see and hear lasers and the boys running away from them. Richard is apparently oblivious to this fact and tells Nicole that he is too busy playing a video game. Nicole asks him again, so he just groans and pretends to check on them.

Back outside, Gumball suggests that Darwin distracts Bobert so he can sneak up behind him and reboot him. Darwin agrees, and steps out into the open and taunts Bobert, causing him to immediately vaporize him.

Since Darwin only distracted him for a few seconds, Gumball was not able to reboot Bobert. He instead throws a bunch of dirt at him, blinding his single eye. Gumball thinks that he has miraculously won, but instead, Bobert begins to transform into a much larger robot with dual Gatling gun lasers for hands, lasers on his shoulders, and a laser on his chest. Gumball whimpers and gets visibly terrified, so he runs away in fright. After blowing away all the cover that Gumball could have used, Bobert gets Gumball out in the open. He targets his head with a laser and fires a devastating blow, causing a mushroom cloud to form over Elmore. Amazingly, Gumball is alright and managed to hide behind some debris that did not get destroyed in the explosion. He successfully taunts Bobert into "fighting like a man", which means hand-to-hand combat.

Bobert then shrinks back down to his normal size and prepares to face off against Gumball. They lunge at each other, Gumball attempts to karate-chop Bobert in the head, but since he is made of metal, Gumball only recoils his hand in pain. Feeling brave, he then taunts Bobert into hitting him. Bobert obliges, and Gumball flies across the yard from the force of his blow. Bobert walks up to Gumball, preparing to finish him off. Gumball, too weak to do anything, prays for "something insignificant" to save him. Darwin answers his call and runs up to Bobert with a shovel, but Bobert just punches him away. Gumball then prays for "something else insignificant" to save him. Suddenly, the sprinklers turn on and Bobert's electricity gets shorted out. Gumball gets up and prepares to reboot Bobert, but Bobert gets up first and pleads Gumball not to do it, saying the two of them can do "great things" together. Gumball flatly declines and reboots Bobert.

As soon as Bobert is rebooted, Darwin, who's face is swelled from Bobert punching him in the face, returns. He seemingly does not remember anything about the fight with Gumball, and then randomly hugs the two of them. As Gumball and Darwin walk off, Bobert expresses his intent to try stealing an identity again. Darwin peaks back, wondering what he said, but Bobert shrugs it off. The episode ends with Bobert's eye turning red again and playing a recording of Darwin's voice, implying he will steal Darwin's identity.

Trivia

There is a fourth wall break towards the beginning when Banana Joe looks at the camera and says "I'm a banana."

Continuity

This is the second time the Dodj or Daar motto was interrupted: "It's time to play Dodge or Dare! Just roll the dice, take a--". The first time this happened was in "The Third."

This is the first appearance of Bobert's "combat mode."

Cultural References

Bobert wanting to be a real boy in this episode is a reference to the classic children's literature character, Pinocchio.

The line "There can be only one" is a reference to the film Highlander, in which the quote is a recurring theme, suggesting that only one immortal will survive the deadly game they play.

Goofs/Errors

In the beginning of the episode, Alan is seen playing football with Tina, Banana Joe, Tobias and Jamie, which is weird since he does not have limbs.

In "The Mystery," Bobert laughs at Principal Brown falling down the stairs, however in this episode, it is stated that he cannot feel any emotions.

That means that this episode would have chronologically taken place before "The Mystery," and Gumball and Darwin explained what was funny offscreen.

On its rerun broadcast on the SD feed on September 4, 2012, this episode aired in widescreen, then showed up cropped to 4:3 after the commercial break. This is an unknown effect that previously affected Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, when one part of the episode was cropped fullscreen before the finale aired, then was returned to widescreen. This is likely an issue with Cartoon Network's broadcasting systems.

When Gumball yells at Bobert in the cafeteria, for a brief moment, his whole mouth becomes the same color as his head.

When Gumball tackles Bobert near the fight, Nicole can be seen standing at the window holding the porcupine parade puzzle box, which it was used from "The Goons."

Gumball: Nerd! Look, man. If you wanna be a real boy, you gotta be cooler than that. A lot cooler!

Bobert: Commencing temperature adjustment. [starts cooling himself with a small fan coming out of his body]

Gumball: Bobert, [turns off the fan] just do as I do.

[Gumball walks around like a rapper while a rap-like music sounds]

Gumball: Go ahead.

[Bobert tries to do the same but he treads very heavily]

Gumball: Aw, come on! Give it a bit more... Bounce! Like this!

[The same rap-like music sounds. Gumball tries to show some kind of springy walk]

Darwin: Dude, what are you doing?

Gumball: I’m cool walking.

Darwin: You look like you are horse-riding nothing.

[Gumball and the music stop]

Bobert: I concur with the aquatic life form.

Gumball: [imitating Bobert]I concur with the aquatic life form.[back to normal] Bobert, if anyone wants to believe you’re a real boy, you need to lose that robot voice.

Bobert: May I simulate yours?

Gumball: Excellent choice!

Bobert: Excellent choice! [tries calibrating his voice, finally it sounds like Gumball’s] Excellent choice! Hi, my name’s Gumball and my head is so big, I’ve to go in the other room to look at it.

[Darwin and Bobert laugh, Gumball examines his head]

Bobert: Did you hear? I laughed! I have feelings! I’m a real boy! Thanks! [hugs Gumball and Darwin]

Gumball: Dude, little tip: Normal people don’t hug for this long.

Bobert: Just a little longer...

At Bobert’s

[Bobert is in the bathroom looking at the mirror]

Bobert: I’m a real boy on the inside, but not on the outside. [in a sinister way]Initiating transformation![turns into the normal state again]

Mom-Unit: Bobert! Time for dinner simulation!

Bobert: Coming, Mom-Unit!

At the School

The Hallway

[Masami, Carmen, Molly, and Carrie are walking along the hallway, laughing]

Carmen: Gumball’s a dream boy!

Masami: Sensitive, funny, smart...

Molly: And punctual!

Carrie: He’s just perfect.

[They walk away, Gumball comes in]

Gumball: [laughing softly] Not even trying... [tries to open his locker, but he can’t] Hmm? Looks like my combination changed! It’s lucky I have this paper clip. [opens up the paperclip. He looks like he’s going to pick the lock, butinstead, he turns around and walks across the hallway and pokes his butt with the paperclip. He charges at the locker, opening it with a head hit] Works every time. [realizes that his locker is empty] Huh? Where’s all my stuff? [reflects]

The Cafeteria

[The bell rings]

Gumball: [eats a burger in one bite, but Rocky makes him spit it out] Hey!

Gumball: [furious] Cupcake?! CUPCAKE?! What do you think you are doing?! When I said you could copy me, I didn’t mean steal my life!

Bobert: But that’s the logical conclusion of this course of action: Observe, assimilate... [in a sinister way]Replace!

Gumball: What the... Okay! Give me one good reason not to hit you right now! Apart from the fact you are made of metal.

Bobert: Because... [menacing]I am you!

Gumball: [confused] What are you talking about?

Bobert: I know everything about you: I know how you walk... [in Gumball’s voice] How you talk... [in normal voice] How you behave; I. Am. You![haughty] Only better.

Gumball: But, there’s only room in this town for one Gumball! And that’s me! Let’s see how long you can fool people.

Bobert: Challenge accepted! [leaves]

Gumball: And for the record, I do not look like a clown’s toaster!

At the Wattersons’

Nighttime

[Gumball is arriving home]

Gumball: [angry] Stupid electronic trashcan copying me! Who he thinks he is?! I’m the original![tries to open the door, but it’s locked] Hmm? [goes to the back door] What’s going on here? [tries to open the door, it’s locked too, goes to the living room window] What the... [sees Bobert disguised as Gumball, the whole family is at the table having dinner]

Gumball: OK, listen, you go out and distract him, I’ll sneak up and reboot him.

Darwin: No problem! [goes in the middle of Bobert’s sight, confident] Hey, Bob- [Bobert launches a laser beam, Darwin goes through the fence]

Gumball: [throws some mud at Bobert] Ha! How do you like that, you psychotic satellite dish?!

[Bobert morphs into a giant robot and cleans the mud with a wiper that came out of his head, roars; Gumball runs again scared, Bobert start shooting laser beams, Gumball evades them all; finally Bobert shots an enormous beam creating a nuclear-like explosion, but Gumball protects himself with a bin]